Dress it Up

I had a blissful afternoon with Mum and Dad in Cheltenham yesterday, we had lunch and then Dad went to mooch around town while Mum and I went and looked at some wedding dresses.

We were looked after by a lovely lady called Jo, but despite trying on about ten dresses, only one really hit the spot, and even that didn't feel 100% right. Part of the problem is that I just don't feel comfortable showing off a lot of flesh, and 99% of wedding dresses are either strapless or very strappy.

I'm a curvy girl, so I imagined most of my problem would be finding a dress that didn't make me look like the marquee - but actually my figure looks OK in a lot of the corset style designs. My waist being pulled in gives me a kind of 40's style figure which actually suits a lot of the gowns which is a nice surprise.

Sadly though even if the 'body' of the dress is OK, the top is usually not. Plunging necklines and fine straps make me desperately exposed - I realise I can't wear a polo neck on my big day, but I just can't stand not being covered up. I'm blaming the dresses - but I'm beginning to get the feeling it might be more to do with me.

I have never been the kind of girl who wears figure hugging or low-cut clothes mainly through a lack of confidence. I simply feel ridiculous in that kind of outfit, and yet I love the look on other people. My mum says I'm too hard on myself, I secretly think she's bigging me up because I'm her daughter - but what if she's right?

In my day to day life I still dress the same way I did as a student: jeans, T-shirt and trainers, maybe it's time to embrace being a grown-up and make some changes. Perhaps then, I can consider some of the dresses I'm turning my back on because they feel out of my comfort zone.

Rev-ing it Up

There's nothing like seeing a vicar fill in some official paperwork to remind you that you are really getting married. Really. Getting. Married.

I don't mind admitting to you that my tummy did some serious somersaults as I saw it all go down in black and white. While I'm really excited about becoming Damian's wife - there's also some terror mixed in there too. I really do need to take up yoga in a bid to calm myself down before the big day, I may be the first bride to say her vows with her leg behind her ear...

Our vicar also booked us in to do a questionnaire next time we meet up, this will apparently work out how compatible our thoughts are about marriage. He then went on to tell us about a couple whose results were so massively different - they split up. Ouch.

Anyway, moving swiftly on, I've managed to get some other jobs sorted out - including importing some table decorations from the States. I discovered I could save loads of money doing it that way, even with the postal charges. They arrived intact and are every bit as lovely as they looked on the website, so everyone's happy.

I'm struggling to find bridesmaid dresses in both the style and colour I'd envisaged, but I'll have to get my dress first before I can make any firm decisions about that, so I'm trying not to stress. The hunt is still on for a hairdresser for the big day, and I'm resigned to having to have my shoes made to get both the style and heel height that I want. It's more than I want to spend, but actually less than a lot of the 'off the peg' bridal shoes, and at least they will be EXACTLY what I want.

Every time I get one thing sorted, another one pops up - anyone else feeling like this?!